Search the Community

I'm officially done with winter. Unfortunately, winter hasn't got the message and seems to be doubling down on the miserableness. I don't do well in the cold, so my main goal over the next four weeks is to fight the urge to hibernate. FEB & MARCH EVENTS Things start to kick up a gear this month. I have Maverick Race on the 24th, which is a 13km run along the South Downs (hills of the hilliest kind). Then at the beginning of March, I’ll be at Winter Nuts (cold of the coldiest kind) with The Hubs, @jonfirestar and @Jarric. I’m still not entirely sure why I signed up for this, given my dislike of all things cold. If you want to see what all the fuss is about, Jon posted a video on his challenge that sums up how horrid it is. RUN! No matter how shitty the weather is, not matter how cold. Just, run. 4 Runs a week 1 Technical-Trail Run - not incl Maverick Race CLIMB, JUMP......er...PUSH? BMF (British Military Fitness) once a week. No matter how shitty the weather is, not matter how cold....you get the idea Bouldering at least 3 times Push ups twice a week (on top of BMF push ups) GET UP! Get up with alarm. No snoozing! I want to start running in the morning again, but first I need to defeat the evil snooze button. So the first stage is to get up with the first alarm and not hit snooze. Once this habit is formed, I'll look at moving the alarm back 10 mins at a time until I'm at a point where I'm up early enough to do a decent length run. SIDE QUEST: UKULELE PRACTICE Practice ukulele twice a week Learn one song by the end of the challenge and post a video of me playing it I picked up my ukulele again after I gave up trying to learn a long time ago. I want to see it through this time and not just give up after learning a handful of chords. I'm setting the video challenge to make sure I keep up with practicing this time.

It's winter. It's cold, it's dark, and it's slightly depressing. That sounds like the setting of one of the best horror movies ever made. Welcome to my horror themed challenge! Happy New Year everyone! My challenge goals remain the same as the last few challenges - running, strength and nutrition - with most of the emphasis on running. My long runs haven't been very long recently, so I'll be slowly increasing my distance on my long runs each week, with an aim of doing a long run of at least 12 miles by the end of February. 1. "Mac wants a flamethrower!" - Run 3 times a week (Wednesday, Friday, and a long run on Sunday) Pretty straight forward really. I just need to get out and run, regardless of how cold and miserable it is. - Make 2 of my long runs hard trail runs I don't have a lot of interesting trails nearby so I have to travel to get to the good places. Because of this, I can't do this every week. As my marathon in July is a trail run with lots of elevation, I need to start logging some miles on the tough trails. 2. “No tears please, it’s a waste of good suffering.” - Attend British Military Fitness (BMF) once a week (Tuesday) BMF is a bootcamp style class that's run by ex service men and women. I started it last month and I absolutely love it. It's all done outside so it's damn cold and sometimes wet and muddy too. But I love the group setting as it really pushes me to do more than I would on my own. - Bouldering once a week OR lifting if unable to boulder (Thursday) I love bouldering, but it's not always possible to get to the climbing gym every week. So if I can't get there, I'll sub this with a lifting session. - Do additional push up and pull up sets twice a week BMF classes tend to involve a lot of push ups and I really suck at them. So I want to work on these outside of class so I'm not struggling to complete the circuits during the session. 3. "I will not be threatened by a walking meat loaf!" - Plan meals weekly I don't do a meal plan and this results in me making up dinners on the spot, which might not be as healthy as they could be. I'll meal plan for the following week on a Thursday or Friday and then I can go buy what I need from the supermarket so I don't have to do any top up shops mid-week - Have one meat free day a week When meal planning, I want to make one day a week a meat free day. This will mean making a vegetable based meal, not a cheese and pasta meal! - No more than two treats a week I've done this for the last few challenges and I've found it really helpful to control my snacking at work. I'll be starting this challenge from Jan 1st, but I'll log any activity here until then. In the mean time, stay safe and warm everyone.

I've finally set my goals for my first four-week challenge. 1. Spend at least 5 minutes outside shirtless and shoeless in temps below 30 degrees F (-1 C). 2. Cold shower every morning for four weeks. 3. Practice at least 15 minutes of Wim Hof Method breathing (similar to Tibetan Tummo meditation) every day. 4. Raise at least $350 for the Special Olympics (What does this have to do with winter? Well...) 5. Participate in the Polar Plunge for the Special Olympics. I'm not even kidding when I tell you the date for the Plunge: February 4th, the last day of the four-week challenge. What better way to end my challenge than a jump into icy water? As for my Level Up Your Life Quest, I chose to find and outdoor destination without step-by-step instructions. Preferably in the snow to help prepare for #5. Good luck to all other challengers.

As some of you already know, my four-week challenge includes cold acclimation and a Polar Plunge on the last day of the challenge. Last week I did something crazy: It snowed last week (January 6th), about 3 inches. Temperatures were below 30 degrees F Friday. To test my training so far, I took a 15 minute walk outside in minimalist shoes (just slip-ons, similar to Vibram Five Fingers), basketball shorts, and no shirt. I could definitely feel the cold, but I wasn't "cold". This weekend, temperatures stayed in the teens and lowers 20s. While I didn't take another walk, I did spend about five minutes each morning outside shirtless and in shorts (tried shoeless, but that only lasted about two minutes, so I put my minimalist shoes on). Did not wear a jacket at all, even while I was out. Still taking cold showers, starting with warm water for the first ten seconds or so and changing over to cold for the rest of the shower (3-5 minutes). Doing WHM breathing every morning. It's an interesting experience that is difficult to explain, like no other form of meditation I have ever done before. I feel very mellow afterwards, and I can feel warmth and tingling through parts of my body. I'm already at $195 in donations, all going to the Special Olympics.

Hey Gang! No sooner did I get myself situation and ready to embark upon my fitness journey, I got saddled with a cold virus. (Boooooo!) While I am following doctor's orders for medication. What holistic and old tried-and-true methods do you gravitate to when you're sick? When I have the strength, I'm hitting up the market for a crate of mandarin oranges, some ginger, and apple cider vinegar, but I'm interested in adding to my shopping list. Any input you could provide would be great. I don't need OTC medications, as I have that on lock down. Thanks!

Alright, I feel like I've asked this question, but boo hoo I'll ask again Maybe I'll get more replies. Alas, fall is quickly creeping upon Northern Alberta and evenings are warm-ish, but the mornings are starting to get crispy. Either time of day, the air is chill. Enough to make a runner's breath quicken and sharp. Anybody have any suggestions on what I could buy to aid in that department? Thank you in advance!

I am coming down with a cold (bit achy, congested nose, sore through, headache etc.) and I was wondering if I should keep with my workout and push through or is it best to adjust it? What should I do? Should I exercise and eat the same or change anything?

It's bloody cold here in Iowa! I've been exercising just to keep my toes from freezing..